Rasmus' homer lifts Jays over O's

Sep 15, 2013 - 4:53 AM
Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Colby Rasmus hit a two-run homer in the seventh
inning to help lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-3 win over the Baltimore
Orioles at Rogers Centre.

Moises Sierra plated a pair with a first-inning double for Toronto, which
snapped a four-game slide. Jeremy Jeffress (1-0) picked up the win in relief
of starter Esmil Rogers, tossing a scoreless seventh. Rogers gave up three
runs on five hits and struck out seven over the first six frames.

Manny Machado homered and scored two runs for the Orioles, who have lost five
of seven and currently sit 3 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay and Texas, who are
tied for the two AL wild card spots.

Baltimore finished 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and wasted a
complete-game effort by Chris Tillman (16-6). Tillman allowed six hits and
walked only two, but both came around to score.

"Tilly pitched well again. He's closing in on 200 innings," said Orioles
manager Buck Showalter. "He was solid, just got a couple changeups up. It's
been a big pitch for him all year. He just elevated a couple and they made him
pay for it."

Sierra drew a free pass to open the home seventh and Rasmus followed with his
go-ahead blast to right field.

"Happy about it. Feels good to be able to hit 20 home runs," said Rasmus, who
reached the mark for the second straight season. "But I just wanted to help us
get a chance to win."

The Orioles had the tying run reach base in the ninth via a two-out single by
Nate McLouth. Casey Janssen, however, retired Machado on a dribbler in front
of the plate for his 30th save. Baltimore left men on the corners an inning
earlier.

Back-to-back doubles by Machado and Chris Davis put the visitors on the board
in the first inning.

After Sierra put Toronto on top, Machado tied the game at 2-2 with a two-out
shot to left in the third. An RBI single by Matt Wieters gave the Orioles a
3-2 lead in the fourth.

Game Notes

Machado's double was his 50th of the season ... Rogers was coming off
consecutive scoreless outings during which he limited the opposition to four
hits over 14 innings ... Toronto first baseman Adam Lind had his 17-game
hitting streak against Baltimore come to an end after going 0-for-2.